University of Kentucky
USA
Dr. Issam Elias Harik is the Raymond-Blythe Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY. His research interests are in the areas of fiber reinforced polymer composite components and structures, structural evaluation and retrofit of bridges, and hazard management of highway structures. Since joining the University of Kentucky in August 1982, he has directed or co-directed the research of 125 funded projects, authored or co-authored more than 110 refereed Journal articles and 160 refereed conference articles, and more than 100 other technical publications including chapters in books. He has directed or is currently directing the research of more than 55 Post Docs, visiting professors, and scholars, 160 graduate students, 60 undergraduate students, and 25 high school students. He currently serves as a member of 9 societies. He has organized, co-organized, and chaired national and international conferences and workshops.
Hunan University
China
Dr. Xugang Hua earned his bachelor and master degree in civil engineering at Central South University, and his PhD degree at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. After one-year postdoctoral study, he joined the Department of Bridge Engineering at Hunan University in 2007, where he was promoted to full professor in 2013. Prof. Hua's researches focus wind-induced vibration and dynamics, structural health monitoring, structural vibration control with special reference to long-span bridges and wind turbine systems. His research has been funded by a number of fundamental research fund from NSFC and MOST, and also from industries. He has edited and published 2 monographs, and published over 100 journal papers. He is the recipients of the China National Technological Invention Award, the China National Science and Technology Progress Award.
Northeast Forestry University
China
Dr. Yongcheng Ji holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado (USA) and is a Full Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Northeast Forestry University (China). His research aligns closely with the three core themes of the proposed project: (i) solid-waste resource utilization and low-carbon cementitious materials; (ii) the durability of FRP-strengthened concrete under coupled environmental and mechanical actions in cold regions; and (iii) intelligent technologies for transportation infrastructure. Dr. Ji has established a strong and internationally recognized research profile, with 99 peer-reviewed publications, 1,086 citations, an h-index of 19, and an i10-index of 34 (Google Scholar, May 2026). His long-standing collaborations with industrial partners in both China and the United States, together with his service on national expert committees, including the China Construction Solid Waste Treatment Industry Expert Committee, provide a well-defined pathway for translating research outcomes into engineering practice. His extensive experience in research supervision and higher education further demonstrates his capacity to both benefit from and contribute to an advanced research and training environment. With more than seven years of university teaching experience, he has successfully supervised 20 Master's students to completion and currently supervises six Ph.D. candidates. His achievements have been recognized through his appointment as a High-Level Talent of Heilongjiang Province and his receipt of a national-level invention award (first-ranked recipient). Taken together, Dr. Ji's academic achievements, technical expertise, leadership in research and industry collaboration, and international perspective make him exceptionally well qualified to undertake the proposed fellowship and to maximize its scientific and societal impact.
University of Delaware
USA
Harry Tripp Shenton, Ph.D. is a professor in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at the University of Delaware. He previously served as Chair of UD's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education in the College of Engineering at UD. Shenton's area of research expertise is in structural health monitoring, condition assessment, and preservation of civil infrastructure, with particular emphasis on bridges. He has received external funding from NSF, FHWA, NIST, NCHRP, DOE, the Delaware Department of Transportation, and industry. He has lead the effort to develop and implement permanent health monitoring systems on new and existing bridges. His research in bridge preservation has focused on maintenance and repair of small movement bridge joints, the long-term performance of unpainted weathering steel, sealants, and load rating bridges without plans. He is a member of ASCE and ISHMII. He is the Academic Director of the Northeast Bridge Preservation Partnership, a member of the FHWA Bridge Preservation Expert Task Group, and past-Chair of the ASCE/SEI Technical Activities Division Executive Committee.
Southeast University
China
Dr. Hao Wang is a Chair Professor at Southeast University. He earned his BSc in Civil Engineering (2001) and MSc in Bridge Engineering (2004) from Central South University, and his Ph.D. in Engineering Disaster Prevention and Mitigation from Southeast University in 2007. Elevated to Full Professor in 2015, he became a Distinguished Professor of the Changjiang Scholars Program in 2020. Currently, he serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Southeast University and director of the Wind-Induced Vibration and Control Committee of the Chinese Society for Vibration Engineering. His research focuses on bridge aerodynamics, structural health monitoring, and structural vibration control. As principal investigator, he has led a number of research projects, including key projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the National Key Research and Development Program. He has published over 150 academic papers (100+ SCIE-indexed). Notably, his research outcomes have been successfully implemented in several kilometer-level cable-supported bridges spanning the Yangtze River, such as the Sutong Yangze River Bridge, Zhangjinggao Yangze River Bridge, and Wufengshan Yangze River Bridge. His achievements have won two Second-Class National Science and Technology Progress Awards of China, three First-Class Jiangsu Science and Technology Progress Awards, and the IAWE Junior Award.
AECOM
USA
Dr. Ed Zhou is Associate Vice President and Bridge Instrumentation & Evaluation Lead in North America of AECOM. He has over 30 years of experience in multiple aspects throughout the bridge life cycle including analysis, design, inspection, load rating, problem diagnosis, fatigue and fracture assessment, structural testing/monitoring, as well as retrofit, rehabilitation, and replacement design. He earned his B.S. from Northern/Beijing Jiaotong University and M.S. and Ph.D. from Lehigh University, all in civil engineering. Dr. Zhou served as a past Chairman of ASCE Fatigue & Fracture Committee and a member of Committee 'Bridge and Structures Management' and Committee 'Testing and Evaluation of Transportation Structures' of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. He played a key role in development of multiple national standards and guidelines: a TRB task force member for updating Section 8: Load Testing of AASHTO's The Manual for Bridge Evaluation in 2023; co-author of TRB Circular E-C257 'Primer for Bridge Load Testing'; expert panel member of NCHRP Synthesis 571 'Load Rating of Bridges and Culverts with Missing or Incomplete As-Built Information'; and co-PI of NCHRP Report 721 'Fatigue Evaluation of Steel Bridges', which updated Section 7 of AASHTO's The Manual for Bridge Evaluation in 2015. As an adjunct faculty of Johns Hopkins University during 2000-2015, Dr. Zhou taught graduate-level courses 'Bridge Design Project', 'Fatigue and Fracture in Steel Bridges', and 'Bridge Design and Evaluation'.
Central South University
China
Dr. Pengru Deng is a full professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, and a recipient of the National Young Talent Program. He earned his Ph.D. in Bridge Engineering and Fracture Mechanics from Hokkaido University in 2017, where he developed an efficient fatigue analysis method for reinforced concrete (RC) bridge decks based on fracture mechanics. He then worked at Hokkaido University as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Academic Researcher, Assistant Professor, Lecturer, and Researcher from 2017 to 2022, before joining Central South University in November 2022. His research interests cover traditional areas such as fatigue and durability of RCs and fracture mechanics of advanced composites, including high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC). He also engages in interdisciplinary research, including structural defect detection using computer vision and artificial intelligence. He has led research projects funded by the National Key R&D Program, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. He has authored over 60 high-impact journal articles and conference papers in the fields of structural engineering and computational mechanics.
Beijing University of Technology
China
Dr. Qiang Han is a professor and doctoral supervisor at Beijing University of Technology, and serves as the Deputy Director of the State Key Laboratory of Bridge Safety and Resilience. He holds the titles of National High-level Leading Talent and Young and Middle-aged Leading Talent of the Ministry of Science and Technology. He leads the Beijing Municipal Scientific and Technological Innovation Team, and also serves as the Associate Editor-in-Chief of the China Journal of Highway and Transport. Prof. Han has led more than 10 national-level projects, including Key Programs of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and projects under the National Key R&D Program. His honors include the Second award of the National Science and Technology Progress Award (2019), the First Prize of Beijing Science and Technology Progress Award, the First award of Fujian Science and Technology Progress Award, and others. He has published 5 monographs, been granted over 120 national invention patents, and authored more than 280 Q1/Q2 SCI-indexed journal papers. He has been consecutively listed in Elsevier's Most Cited Chinese Researchers and the Top 2% Scientists Worldwide for many years.
Southwest Jiaotong University
China
Dr. Mingshui Li is a professor in the School of Civil Engineering at Southwest Jiaotong University. He holds a Ph.D. from Southwest Jiaotong University. He previously served as a research professor or consultant engineer at China Aerodynamics R&D Centre, COWI AS and Danish Maritime Institute. His area of research expertise is in wind resistance performance of long-span bridges, wind loads on buildings, bluff body aerodynamics, turbulence. He has published more than 150 journal papers. He has undertaken a large amount of wind engineering research and consulting projects related to long-span bridges, buildings and structures, photovoltaic structure, low-altitude economy. He has led 6 National Basic Research Programs (863 and 973 Programs), 1 National Key R&D Program, 10 National Natural Science Foundation projects, and 1 Danish Science Foundation project. His research outcomes have been incorporated into 6 industry standards, including the Standard for Wind Tunnel Test Methods of Building Engineering and the Design Specification for Photovoltaic Flexible Support Systems. In recent years, his interest has mainly focused on the theories and wind tunnel test technologies related to the unsteady aerodynamic loads of airfoil and bluff bodies in turbulent flow, flutter instability in turbulence. He served as the Chairman of Asia-pacific conference on wind engineering and past execute member of IAWE, is members of several Chinese societies related wind action.
Shijiazhuang Tiedao University
China
Dr. Qingkuan Liu is a professor and Director of both the Wind Engineering Research Center and the Hebei Provincial Engineering Innovation Center for Wind Engineering and Wind Energy Utilization. He received his Ph.D. from Kyoto University and holds prestigious honors including National Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand Talent, State Council Special Allowance Expert, and New Century Excellent Talent of the Ministry of Education. His research focuses on wind loads and wind-induced vibrations of long-span bridges, super-tall buildings, and large-span spatial structures. He has published over 200 papers, been granted more than 50 invention patents, and conducted wind-resistant studies for over 350 engineering projects worldwide. He has received three First Prizes of the Hebei Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award, and his team was honored as an Advanced Collective for contributions to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. In 2026, he was awarded the National May Day Labor Medal.
Hunan University of Science and Technology
China
Professor Hongxin Sun is a professor and Dean of the School of Civil Engineering at Hunan University of Science and Technology. He received his Ph.D. from Hunan University and subsequently worked as a visiting scholar at Virginia Tech in the United States. His research covers structural vibration control and smart damping technology, energy harvesting, wind resistance performance of long-span bridges, and bluff body aerodynamics. He served as a member of the Second Professional Committee for Engineering Seismic Isolation and Vibration Control of the Chinese Seismological Society. He has published over 100 journal papers and holds 40 invention patents. He has led numerous national-level research projects, including a Key International Cooperative Research Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and a sub-project of the National Basic Research Program (973 Program). His findings have been widely applied to long-span bridges, building structures, photovoltaic systems, and offshore wind engineering. More recently, his research has focused on the multi-body coupled vibration mechanism and adaptive control of semi-submersible floating offshore wind turbines under combined wind, wave, and current loads, as well as AI-based prediction of structural responses. In recognition of his work, he has received the First award of the Science and Technology Award from the China Highway and Transportation Society and the Second award of Natural Science of Hunan Province. He is also the recipient of the Hunan Provincial Outstanding Youth Foundation and the Furong Scholar Award.
Changsha University of Science and Technology
China
Dr. Yan Han is a professor at Changsha University of Science and Technology. She serves as the Dean of the College of Excellence Engineers, and the Deputy Director of the State Key Laboratory of Power Grid Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. She is the Changjiang Scholar Distinguished Professor with support by National Outstanding Youth Science Funding, and got the China Youth Science and Technology Award. She was also supported by the Hunan Provincial Outstanding Youth Science Funding, and honored by the Hunan Provincial Leading Talent in Science and Technology Innovation. Prof. Han has led 7 projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and over 30 industry-funded R&D projects. She has published more than 200 papers and authored for many invention patents and software copyrights. She received the Second Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award (ranked 2nd) and 6 provincial/ministerial science and technology awards. Her main research interests include bridge wind-induced vibration and intelligent control, wind-vehicle-bridge coupled vibration, and intelligent infrastructure operation and maintenance. Prof. Han also serves on several professional committees in China, including the Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics Committee of the Chinese Society of Aerodynamics.